Road-drag.



l. DUDEK.

ROAD DRAG.

APPLICATION mio ris. 1s. 1917. v 1,289,366. Patentedsept. 4,1917.

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INVENTOR AftoRN EY J. DUDEK.

ROAD DRAG.

APPLICATION FILED FEB.|6|19\7. Y 1,239,366, Patented'Sept. 4, 1917.

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WITNESS JOHN DUDEK,.-'OF:.CA1VIPBELL, NEBRASKA.

ROAD-DRAG. 1.,

Specicaton of Letters- Patent.

Patented Sept. 4C, 1917.

Application fille'd February-16,=19l7. SeraLNo'. 149,068: .i

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that JOHN DUDEK, -a citizen of the United States, residing at Campbell,

in the county of Franklin and State ofy l\lebrasl`:a7 have invented new anduseful Improvements in'load-Dragsof which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to road workingmachmes and 1t has particular-reference to v that class of devices which are-known vasy drags cr levelers.

The invention has for its object tovproe duce a road dragv of simple and `improved construction which will be equipped with a blade or cutting member located' well '1n advance of the forward runner or drag bar;

the purpose `of said cutting member-being to share lor cut uneven or irregular portions of theroad in advance of the drag, the dirt thus cut being deposited in advance of the drag to be thereby crushed, 'leveled and compacted, filling the low-spaces and'.V

leaving a smooth and perfect surface for traveling.

A further vobject of the invention is to so mount and support the' blade or cutting member that it may be tilted in anV upward direction when necessary to enablel it to pass- A further object of theinvention is to simplify-and improve theV constructionf'as well as the manner of supf porting the improved blade or :cutting member.

lith these and other ends in viewwhi'ch will readily appear as-the nature ofthe invention is better understood, the sameconfsists in the improvedconstruction and novel arrrangement yand 'combination `ofi-parts whichA will be hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed outl in the claims.

In the accompanying drawing has beenillustrated a simple and preferred form of` Figure 1 is a top plan View of a drag equipped with the improvement.

Fig. 2 is a view in end elevation of the same.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line Y 3 3 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a top plan view illustrating a modification fwhereby .the .cutting blade Vis a tiltablyr supported.

Figlv isan endy view yofsaid modified'v form.

F ig.-6 is a perspective View ofthe bladen illustrated in Figs. 11 and 5, detached.

Corresponding partsin the several figures of the-drawings are denoted bylike char;Y acters of reference.

They drag as illustrated inv thezaccompanying drawing comprises front and rear drag barst-orl runners, asthey `are' sometimes known,\said bars being designated by 15, 16,'v

each of said bars being reinforced by a plank 17A on the rearward face thereof. The. drag bars are connectedtogether. and spacedapartby connecting bars `1S on whichplanks 19 constituting a platform are. supportedI Connecting bars 18 may be ymortised into the drag bars as shown' andan additional ob-Y 'liquely disposed brace bar 20 may be used.

The -drag bars or runners are vpreferably obliquely disposed/with respect to each-other.

The forward drag bar l5 is provided with' a wearf plate 21' secured. onthe rforward face adjacentto the'.lower. edge thereof. The frontdrag bar.l isv provided with a dra1ft" chain22,` suitably@ Vconnected therewith land i having' a hitching link 23.

The'blade-or cutting member 24 consistsi of a bar or plate of steel of a lengtlr'ap` ness. said bladebeing swagedY tor-produce a cutting edge 25 atltheforward edge thereof.

The cutting member 24: is supported with-f its bottomv face approximately intheplane ofl the bottom face of the drag bar 15 by means .of bracketsor arins26, the construction be# Y ing preferably reinforced by braces 27, if desired, the manner of supporting the blade being, however, largely optional` It is, however, important that the back 28 of the blade shall be properly spaced from the forward face of the front drag bar, producing an open space 29 the width of which maybe from four to eight inches, more or less.

By the modified construction illustrated in Figs. 4, 5 and 6, the blade, here designated by 24 is tiltably supported in order that the cutting edge thereof may be lifted or raised upward to enable the blade to pass over obstructions which might be injurious to the cutting edge. By this construction the brackets or arms here designated by 26 are provided with eyes 30 on the upper faces thereof, and the blade 24 is provided with lugs 31, riveted or otherwise secured to the under face thereof and extending rearwardly for the passage of hinge bolts 32 whereby said lugs are connected with the eyes 30. The blade 2 itself is also concaved slightly in its upper face as shown at 33, and it will be noted that when the blade is hingedly connected with the arms or brackets its position is only approximatelyl horizontal. The operation thereof, however, will be very nearly identical with that of the horizontally disposed blade illustrated in Figs. 1 to inclusive, because it will cut beneath the surface of the d irt, and the dirt dislodged by the blade will fall behind the same and in advance of the forward drag bar l5 to be crushed and compacted thereby.

The blade 24 is provided with upwardly extending arms 3a which are connected by rods 35 with a hand lever 36 suitably fulcrumed on the drag, said hand lever having a stop member 37 engaging a rack segment 38 whereby the lever and the parts controlled thereby will be retained securely at various adjustments. By this hand lever the blade 24 may be tilted to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 5, lifting the front edge thereof so as to enable it to ride over any obstructions that may present themselves.

In the operation of this device, the drag is drawn over the ground in the customary manner. Rough and uneven high portions will be shorn from the surface of the road by the blade or cutting member 24 or 2l', as the case may be, the cuttings passing over the blade and being deposited in the space 29 in advanceof the forward runner bar. By the action of the runner bars the cuttings will be crushed, distributed in the low spaces, and compacted, leaving the surface of the road in an excellent condition.

When the conventional drag is used without the blade or cutting member of the present invention, the front runner bar is entirely depended upon to remove the high portions by the scraping action of the bar. IVhen the soil is hard and dry, the drag is very liable to pass over the high places, and the results produced will hardly be perceptible. Even if portions of the high places are removed, the cuttings will be distributed and compacted in an inferior manner. By the application of the improved blade the cutting member or draft will be materially lightened, and the cuttings shorn by the blade will be deposited in a crumbled and loose state in advance of the drag bars, the only function required of which will be to distribute, crush and compact the cuttings. It follows that a much superior result may be obtained in a more speedy and less expensive manner and with a great saving of power.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

l. In a road drag, a ground engaging crushing element, brackets connected with the front face of said element near the lower edge thereof and extending forwardly with respect thereto, and a substantially horizontal blade supported by said brackets in spaced relation to the crushing element, said blade having its cutting edge approximately in the plane of the bottom face of the crushing element; said blade being adapted to shave or ycut the high places in the ground, the material cut by said blade being distributed in front of the crushing element.

2. A road drag having ground engaging front and rear crushing and leveling bars, brackets connected with and extending for wardly with respect to the front crushing bar, eyes on said brackets, a cutting blade having rearwardly extending lugs, means for hingedly connecting the lugs with the eyes on the brackets, thereby sustaining the blade tiltably and in an approximately horizontal position, and means whereby said blade may be tilted to swing the cutting edge thereof in an upward direction.

In testimony whereof I afx my signature.

JOHN DUDEK.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

